God’s promised blessings give us courage to pray. In 1 Chronicles 17, King David desired to build a house for the Lord, but was told that he would not be the one to do so. Instead, he was told, God would build a house for him (David). He would receive God’s covenant blessings. The prophet Nathan said to him, “‘I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: 11When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. 14 I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”
This gave David courage to pray. David’s response in prayer to God, in part, was the following, 25 “You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. 26 You, LORD, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.” (italics mine)
God’s promised blessings give believers courage to pray. We have just finished several sermons on Ephesians 1:3-14 which enumerates God’s blessings for believers – he has chosen us, he has adopted us, he has redeemed us, he has given us an inheritance – we have them already in part by means of the Holy Spirit, and we wait for the day of the Lord in which we will receive them in their fullness. This should give us courage to pray. We can be assured that the God who has given us so many blessings in Christ certainly has our best interest at heart, and therefore would be willing to grant our requests which are in his will for us. Just as a loving earthly father gives good gifts to his children when asked, certainly God will not withhold the things that we need (cf. Mat. 7:7-11). So let God’s promised blessings encourage you to enter into his presence in prayer – to give him thanks and praise, to confess your sins, to ask for what you need, and to pray for the needs of others. Remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jer 32:27 ESV)
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